Here’s where you can peruse and purchase our items in person this year. Our handmade one-of-a-kind products and our selected manufactured goods may be coming to a festival near you. Check it out below.

Wentworth Medieval Faire
May 25th Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm (Pub open ’til Midnight), May 26th Sunday 10:00am-6:00pm
Ancaster Fairgrounds 630 Trinity Rd S, Jerseyville, ON L0R 1R0

Robin in the Hood
May 31st Friday, 6:00pm-9:00pm, June 1st Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm
Gibson Park 17 First St W, Elmira, ON N3B 1E1

The Ontario Pirate Festival
August 3rd Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm, August 4th Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm, August 5th Monday 11:00am-6:00pm
Marden Park 7391 Marden Rd, Guelph, ON N1H 6J2

Cogs and Clockworks Steampunk Festival
September 7th Saturday 11:00am-9:00pm
St Andrew Street Fergus Ontario

Royal Medieval Faire
September 21st Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm
Waterloo Park West 50 Young St W, Waterloo, ON N2L 2Z4

Oxford Renaissance Festival
September 28th Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm, September 29th Sunday 10:00am-6:00pm
Thorndale Fairgrounds 21737 Fairview Rd, Thorndale, ON N0M 2P0

I first “met” Dr. Akilah Cadet, DHSc, MPH during the summer of 2020 when she launched a 30-day Ally Nudge program. (lol — by “met,” I mean we exchanged some messages on Twitter.)

I appreciated learning from her at the time, and recently, I learned a lot more at a screening of her documentary, “Sounds About White: The Untold Story of the DEI Expert,” at San Francisco’s de Young Museum. Cadet also spoke about her new book White Supremacy is All Around: Notes from a Black Disabled Woman in a White World.

Now I can say I’ve met her in real life.

I’ve also read her book, a powerful collection of essays exploring how white supremacy has impacted her and the work that’s needed to combat structural oppression.

Here’s one takeaway (of many) that I noted: Don’t use intent as an excuse.

Cadet wrote, “White people get stuck with intention: ‘It wasn’t my intention to say or do X.’ It’s with intention where white people look for an excuse. It’s with intention they look for the Black person to forgive them. To allow the unsavory behavior or action to just be a thing of the past.”

Instead, when we make a mistake, we should apologize wholeheartedly for the impact and harm we caused. And pledge to do better.

P.S. Please consider purchasing Cadet’s book or hosting a screening of her documentary. Contact her team for more information.

Share this action on LinkedIn, on Instagram, or on Threads.

In Who takes credit for women’s ideas?, Dr. Kieran Snyder described her recent research on meeting behavior. Specifically, she focused on how often a person gets credit for an observation that someone else previously made. And if this happens to specific identities more than others. (She noted that she only had sufficient data to analyze gender by men and women, not other genders.)

Snyder called this phenomenon idea annexing and found it occurs frequently. She wrote, “In a typical hour-long meeting, someone takes credit for someone else’s idea at least three times!” Her research shows that both men and women do this.

She also studies the more inclusive idea spotlighting, where people resurface others’ ideas and give them credit. For example, “Tonia suggested we move resources to the London office. I thought that was an interesting idea.” And, “Tonia, you made a suggestion before about the London office, but the conversation went in another direction. Would you mind sharing it again?”

Interestingly, both men and women are more likely to give credit to men than women. Race and ethnicity didn’t significantly affect these patterns.

Allies, let’s pledge to disrupt idea annexation with spotlighting. Let’s resurface people’s ideas and give them credit.

Here’s something I share every May in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in the United States.

In addition to recognizing the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to our history, culture, and achievements, we should also focus on the inequity AAPI people can face in our workplaces.

A few years ago, I attended “Tech for AAPI Rally,” a virtual event to understand violence and racism against tech employees of Asian American and Pacific Island descent. During a panel discussion of how allies can lead change, Bloomberg tech journalist Tom Giles shared the following:

“There is a tendency and a temptation to minimize the problems that are faced by the Asian community … that ‘they’re doing fine.’ It gets back to the model minority myth. … When you think about oppressed groups, we immediately go to immigrants, we go to Latino immigrants, we go to Black Lives Matter. Obviously, all of those things are tremendously important, and there is a tendency to minimize, because of things related to the model minority myth, instances of harassment and oppression [against people in the Asian community].”

As allies, we can push back if we hear someone saying, “They’ll be fine,” or otherwise trying to downplay reports of harassment against employees of people of Asian and Pacific Island descent. We can ask, “What makes you say that?” and hopefully turn the conversation towards supporting those employees and addressing the discrimination.

(To read about the model minority myth, check out this story from NBC News.)

Not too long ago, I met a university administrator at a women’s leadership conference. As we chatted about my work on allyship, she mentioned that she frequently feels overlooked and sometimes invisible. When I asked why, she chalked it up to people not knowing how to pronounce her name. People will refer to each other by their first name during meetings, but her colleagues rarely call on her for her perspective. She acknowledged that her Nigerian name is unusual for many in the U.S. but doesn’t understand why her colleagues won’t learn to pronounce it.

I told her I’m a fan of NameDrop.io, which allows you to record a short audio clip of how to say your name. You can then add a link to it from your email signature. For example, here’s my signature:

Karen Catlin (she/her) — click to hear my name

I’ve also recorded my name on my LinkedIn profile page, and others can listen to it by tapping the speaker icon after my name.

When I asked the university administrator if her colleagues would listen to a recording to learn how to say her name, she admitted she wasn’t sure. But she was willing to add it to her signature and give it a try.

Even if you think your name is easy to pronounce, take a moment to record yours and help normalize doing so.

As you know, I love learning about actions people have taken after reading my newsletter, hearing me speak, or reading one of my books. Today, I’m highlighting some tips about using more inclusive language.

Carolyn, a Talent Planning Manager at KARL STORZ, wrote: “I have stopped using certain words or phrases that have historical connections to slavery, such as grandfathering. Additionally, I educate my non-US based/non-English speaking colleagues on the derivation of these types of words.”

Stacey Whitaker shared: “I am more aware of language and frequently share more inclusive alternative phrases such as restriction/allow list [instead of black/whitelist] or anonymous review [instead of blind review]. Almost daily, I request to be referred to as ‘team’ or ‘folks’ instead of ‘guys’ — this request seems hard for many to adopt, but I’ll continue with reminders.”

Someone who requested anonymity said, “In a team interview with an Asian candidate, one team member casually used the phrase ‘fresh off the boat’ (referencing something else, not the candidate). Afterward, I spoke privately to the team member and reached out to the candidate to apologize. She responded by thanking me and saying, ‘If anything, I am 🙌 of your care and leadership.’ We ended up offering her the job, and she accepted.”

If you’ve taken action to be a better ally with your language or something else, please reply to this email and tell me about it. And mention if I can quote you by name or credit you anonymously in an upcoming newsletter.

That’s all for this week. I wish you strength and safety as we all move forward.

— Karen Catlin (she/her), author of the Better Allies® book series

Copyright © 2024 Karen Catlin. All rights reserved.

Being an ally is a journey. Want to join us?

😍 Follow @BetterAllies on Instagram, Threads, Medium, or X/Twitter. Or follow Karen Catlin on LinkedIn

✉️ This content originally appeared in our newsletter. Subscribe to “5 Ally Actions” to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday

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Don’t Use Intent as an Excuse, and Other Actions for Allies was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The past few months have been hard and stressful in so many ways, I can't count. I'm also leery of sharing too many details because of privacy. But I will say that, this week, my father went into an assisted care home so he can remain safe and comfortable while he lives with dementia. I am amazed at how quickly this has come on, although if I'm honest with myself, the signs had been building for a while. Still, back at Christmas, my father was well enough to drive over to have breakfast with us. Now I'm paying all his bills, and he's never driving again.

And while it's hard to admit, we have been very, very lucky these past four months. We were warned by a friend who had to deal with a similar situation before to secure a Power of Attorney while my father was capable of giving it, because (for obvious reasons) it becomes a lot, lot harder once someone progresses to the point where they can't give it. Then he had a stroke which we caught and called the ambulance on early thanks to Wayfinder's quick thinking. Then we had another need for hospitalization that occurred while we were at a follow-up appointment in a hospital. That routed my father to a hospital that he wouldn't normally have been sent to, and they recommended an assisted care facility that wouldn't normally have been on our radar. And thanks to our healthcare system, these multiple hospital interventions have cost us almost nothing out-of-pocket. A pox on any politician that tries to take that away from us (and should that send you to hospital, may you receive as good quality of care as you intend for the rest of us).

Best of all, my father accepted this. We'd been worried that this would be a terrible fight. But after being told by a doctor that he had dementia, he agreed to assisted care, and now he is safe and cared for, receiving three meals a day and laundry service, medicine reminders, just steps away from the help of qualified nurses should he need it. It is a tremendous load off our shoulders that had been pressing us flat for weeks.

But it's still a time of change. We now have a house we have to settle, bills to pay, services to shift or delete. A lot of work is ahead, and although it comes with less stress and deadlines, it's still a melancholy task.

However, I'm still visiting my father -- this time in his private room -- and we share a tea every second evening. We've been doing that for a while, since my mother passed away, and that's not going to change anytime soon. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, give thanks for these quiet moments of relative normalacy. Be thankful that, in the end, there is tea.

Recently an environmental acquaintance advised me that he thought Woolwich Township's environmental decisions and behaviour was more about incompetence and less about corruption. This was in regard to efforts around groundwater treatment and in fact might have even included Lanxess's actions. Here's a news flash. Just because they are corrupt and dishonest doesn't mean that they can not also be incompetent.  This incompetence was further on display last evening as Woolwich's latest rebranding of greenwashing, namely TRAC,  embarrassed the heck out of them.  Their untruthful claim about transparency and accountability took a hit as they held their first PUBLIC meeting at 6 pm. in Council Chambers. It was scheduled to run from 6 to 8 pm. Guess what those twits did? Somewhere between 6:10 and 6:20 pm. they locked the outside door preventing citizens who have babysitting issues, dinner to prepare etc. from showing up a little late to sit in the gallery and listen to all the professional deception, misdirection and general bullsh*t  they have to offer. There is no buzzer for admittance or intercom outside .Repeated e-mails and texts got the citizen into the meeting sometime after 7 pm.  Another good job Woolwich!

Yesterday I indicated here that I had attempted to send formal complaints to RECO (provincial) and WRAR (local) in regards to real estate agents not disclosing serious local issues to prospective buyers. I mentioned that I was not confident that my on-line complaints had gotten through. Indeed they probably did not and thus this morning with a little help received yesterday from a more computer able individual than myself  I resubmitted the five page complaint form to RECO. Later today or tomorrow I may also attempt to resubmit to WRAR. As indicated yesterday here I have no reason to have any confidence in either RECO or WRAR especially as I was advised yesterday that my friend had approached, I believe he said RECO, with a complaint years ago and got absolutely nowhere. Parents do not give up on your children who have zero interest or ability in math or sciences as they can still get high paying jobs as professional deceivers and bullsh*t artists. Both industry and government require them constantly.

ALL IN THE FAMILY – Betty, Laura, John and Binny are all working together to help community members who are struggling with hunger.

“I wish everyone had food.”

Binny Musselman, a Grade 5 student, has always been troubled by how many people in our community don’t have enough to eat.

She comes by it naturally – her grandparents, Betty and John Galbraith, regularly dedicate one day a week to volunteering at House of Friendship’s Emergency Food Hamper program.

They first learned about the program from their son, Matthew Galbraith (Binny’s uncle), who served as Volunteer Coordinator over a decade ago. Matthew still volunteers weekly with this program and annually for the Christmas Food program, alongside their other sister Bethany Galbraith.

Binny has also volunteered at House of Friendship with her mom, Laura Galbraith, helping out at the annual volunteer appreciation event sand with her grandparents, at the Emergency Food Hampers program throughout the years.

So when Binny had a social studies project assigned to her at school, she decided she wanted to tackle the challenge of hunger.

“Binny decided to focus her project on food insecurity within her community after seeing the pressing need from the number of food hampers being packed,” said Laura.

And Binny also decided she wanted to bring her classmates along for the ride.

“I wanted to have my class volunteer so they could learn about food insecurity, and hopefully spark their interest in volunteering,” said Binny.

She also hopes that more people will become more aware of how many people in Waterloo Region need help feeding their families – and that there’s no shame if someone needs help.

“People shouldn’t be scared or nervous to ask for help,” said Binny. “If people need to get food, then that’s okay.”

Seeing such empathy and compassion at a young age is encouraging for Binny’s family.

“I think she has a tremendous heart,” said John, her grandfather. “She just wants to give, and she’s always looking for ways to do it.”

The post Giving Back Runs in the Family appeared first on House Of Friendship.

April 25, 2024

Cobionix, the startup developing Codi♦, an AI-powered robotics system that can perform ultrasounds, met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Honorable Marci Ien, Minister responsible for Women and Gender Equality Canada, and Honorable Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs at Saskatoon’s Virtual Health Hub earlier this week.

The visit was part of a larger trip to Saskatchewan where the prime minister announced Budget 2024 funding for Indigenous communities to address health disparities in rural and remote Indigenous communities.

The Virtual Health Hub, where Cobionix is conducting remote ultrasounds clinical trials, will receive $21 million to develop, adopt, and deliver healthcare services to remote communities.

“Cobionix is thrilled to participate in a transformative initiative that aims to tackle health disparities faced by rural and remote communities,” Matthew Sefati (BSc ’16), Cobionix CEO, said. “Through our innovative AI-enabled robotic platform, Codi♦, and its pioneering ultrasound application, we are helping bridge the healthcare gap.”

Cobionix aims to offer fully autonomous ultrasounds — where the robot will undertake all parts of the ultrasound procedure without the need for technician supervision — in all of Saskatchewan and eventually across North America.

“The federal government’s investment in the Virtual Health Hub underscores the leadership and achievements of our partners, including Dr. Ivar Mendez, director of the Virtual Care and Remote Presence Lab at the University of Saskatchewan, and Riel Bellegarde, president of Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, in leveraging our advanced robotics technology to address current healthcare challenges.”

University of Waterloo engineering grads Nima Zamani (BASc ‘14, MASc ‘16), CTO, and Dr. Tim Lasswell (BASc ‘14, MASc ‘17), chief medical officer, founded Cobionix along with John Van Leeuwen (BSc ‘81). Since joining Velocity in the spring of 2021, their team built Codi, passed milestone audits necessary to manufacture medical devices, and raised close to $3 million in venture capital funding.

“At Velocity we built a clinical-grade commercial product,” said Zamani. “It is one of the few incubators that are supporting medical device development and we’ve used the space, support, mentorship, and access to investors — Velocity has helped us in many areas.”

The post Justin Trudeau, meet Codi appeared first on Velocity.

Momentum showcases strong engagement from entrepreneurially minded students and the achievements of those students and other startup founders.

Interest in working with Velocity continues to be strong. There are 157 student teams actively building early-stage startups, showing that entrepreneurship is alive and well at Waterloo. The publication details stories of founders and their startups that are shaping the future. Momentum is a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit that Velocity continuously cultivates.

The post New Velocity publication celebrates rich tech landscape at Waterloo appeared first on Velocity.

Little Crosses is a debut novel by Sabrina Reeves that feels like the culmination of years of extensive study into the depths and crevices of the human psyche. This is a story of the dichotomous nature of dysfunctional families: the deep sense of betrayal and regret against a backdrop of intense loyalty and love. For anyone who has had experience with familial alcoholism, this story will resonate at many levels.

The story opens with the Wolfe family facing a crisis: mother Nina is suffering from alcoholic dementia and there is no option left but to have her moved to a facility that can not only detox her safely, but also continue to care for her in her fragile state. Siblings Oliver, Cassie and Jack have driven every possible road to help their mother continue to live independently but the inevitable outcome of Nina’s disease requires help beyond what the children can provide. 

This story is told through Cassie’s perspective and she takes the reader on a journey of this family’s life from 1977 through to 2018, with a focus on Nina’s exuberant personality and the subtle ways in which the cracks in her thin veneer began to deepen and spread. In some ways, the children led an idyllic life and in others, it was a battle against a force of nature too strong for them to manage or understand. Nina’s strength is antithetical to her desperate need to not be alone. The children hang on by a thread to the rollercoaster ride that is Nina Wolfe’s life. 

As the disease brings them all to its inevitable conclusion, we realize that at the heart of all of the dysfunction, there is a steadfast love that binds the entire family together.

 From first hand experience I can confidently state that our judicial system as in Superior Court in Kitchener is a piece of crap . Maybe that's inherent and maybe it's simply an awful judge such as Robert Reilly and possibly Gerald Taylor who I believe presided over the Woolwich Township versus Frank Rattasid civil trial a few years back. Then there is MECAC. That is a plain farce in which mostly former politicians gang up to protect current politicians from accountability regarding the election process. Both Scott Hahn and Sandy Shantz benefited from that pack of dishonest swine.  There is the College of Teachers which is just one more self-regulating and self-serving group mostly going through the motions of serving the public interest. And on and on.

Yesterday I filed electronically (maybe?) a complaint with RECO and WRAR. I say maybe because unlike say my on-line orders of CBD Oil for my arthritis in which I receive a confirmatory e-mail immediately afterwards, there was nothing from either. Also when I sign on-line environmental petitions there is usually a confirming "Thank You" afterwards from the sponsor of the petition. Again nothing from either RECO or WRAR. 

At the moment I can't fully recall what those letters stand for although both allegedly are some kind of enforcement of real estate agents Rules & Regulations. RECO is the provincial body and WRAR the more local, regional one. Maybe the WR in WRAR is Waterloo Region .... and the RE in RECO is Real Estate... something? Not certain. The point is I am appalled that prospective buyers of homes in the subdivision on the east side of the Bolender Landfill and most especially those very close to it are not informed about the existence of the Landfill and particularly about the fourty years of methane monitoring and detections far above the health and safety criteria. 

Yesterday's post here explains some of that. Possibly on the RECO complaint under the heading of whom I was complaining about I listed the real estate agent's name along with the words in brackets "(sort of a complaint)". The fact is that I don't know who exactly is really responsible. Is there a serious duty upon the agent to do serious due diligence or is it simply a loosey goosey matter of whether he recalls any serious issues nearby or not? I do not believe that I have ever met the real estate agent or have any connection whatsoever to him. It certainly is not personal.

Long story short I expect literally nothing from either RECO or WRAR. If however my "complaint" does assist in greater early disclosure of local problems and issues to prospective buyers then that is a good thing.  If the real estate agent relies upon either the municipality (Woolwich) or even the Ministry of Environment (MECP) then he is a fool along with most of the rest of us. Both Woolwich Township and the MECP are dishonest bodies and ultimately they should be held responsible for their behaviour that is  contrary to the public health, safety and interest.     

In the dynamic world of online marketing, backlinks remain a cornerstone for enhancing website authority and driving organic traffic. In my startup life, SEO was a top priority for the business and marketing strategy. Understanding how to build backlinks effectively can significantly elevate your website's visibility and credibility in search engine rankings. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the process of building backlinks, step by step, empowering you to harness this and leverage it for your own business.

Before diving into the tactics, it's crucial to grasp why backlinks matter. Search engines like Google view backlinks as votes of confidence from other websites - a click-through to your website from another validates the authority you have online. The more high-quality backlinks your site receives, the more authority and trust it gains in the eyes of search engines. This can lead to higher rankings in search results, driving more organic traffic to your site.

Start by identifying your competitors and analyzing their backlink profiles. Any SEO tool will do - I like SEMRush - to provide insights into which websites are linking to your competitors. This analysis helps you uncover potential link-building opportunities within your niche. What you are also looking for here is not only what website are linking to your competitor’s content but what keywords your competitors are ranking for.

Compelling content is the cornerstone of successful link building. Create informative, engaging, and valuable content that naturally attracts backlinks. This could include blog posts, infographics, videos, case studies, or original research. Aim to provide unique insights or solutions to common problems in your industry.

Once you have your content ready, it's time to reach out to relevant websites in your niche. Look for websites, blogs, or online publications that might be interested in linking to your content. Personalize your outreach emails, highlighting the value your content offers to their audience. Be genuine and courteous in your approach, focusing on building relationships rather than simply asking for backlinks.

Guest blogging is another effective way - one of my favourites - to build backlinks and establish your authority in your industry. Identify reputable websites that accept guest posts and pitch them with your ideas. Ensure that your guest posts provide valuable insights and are tailored to the audience of the host website. Include a relevant link back to your website within the content or author bio. Guests posts also provide your guests an opportunity to give themselves a shout out on social media - another way to boost your brand’s awareness and engagement.

Share your content on social media platforms and participate in online communities relevant to your industry. Engage with your audience, answer questions, and provide helpful insights. This can lead to natural backlinks as other users share and reference your content. Reddit is a great resource for online community chats - a great place to drop your website links. 

Regularly monitor your backlink profile using tools like Google Search Console. This allows you to track new backlinks, identify any toxic or spammy links, and take necessary action to maintain a healthy backlink profile.

Remember, quality trumps quantity when it comes to backlinks. Focus on acquiring backlinks from authoritative websites within your niche. A few high-quality backlinks from reputable sources can have a more significant impact on your SEO than numerous low-quality links.

The landscape of SEO and link building is constantly evolving. Stay updated with the latest trends, algorithm changes, and best practices in the industry. Be willing to adapt your strategies accordingly to ensure long-term success. Testing and discovering something doesn’t work is better than not being willing enough to take the risk - so get creative and adapt as you go.

Building backlinks is an essential component of any comprehensive SEO strategy. By following these step-by-step guidelines and staying committed to providing value to your audience, you can effectively enhance your website's authority, visibility, and organic traffic. Happy link building! Any questions, you know where to find me.

♦

Cecil Community Centre is a not-for-profit, multi-service community neighbourhood centre that offers a broad range of recreational, educational, social, cultural and capacity-building programs to residents in the Kensington-Chinatown and College-Spadina neighbourhoods. For more than 40 years, the Centre has played a vital role in the lives of community members of all ages. The Centre provides programs and services for children, youth, adults and seniors.

As a Cecil Community Centre Board Member, you will assist the organization with policy creation, financial oversight, fundraising, and overall strategic direction. You will review and act upon committee recommendations brought to the board, and provide governance, financial oversight and support to the Centre’s Executive Director. If you are looking for a way to make a difference in the community, this could be the opportunity for you.

Desired Skills: We’re looking for people who are passionate about the community and having a positive social impact. Skills or experience in any of the following areas would be considered assets but are not required to apply: Board Experience, Human Resources. Racialized and 2SLGBTQI+ individuals are encouraged to apply.

Commitment: Successful candidates will be required to attend regular board meetings, as well as any additional committee meetings. Board meetings are typically held monthly on the last Thursday of every month (approximately of 9 meetings per year). Board Members are also expected to serve on one committee. Board members are asked to serve a two-year term, and the estimated monthly time commitment is 4-6 hours per month.

How to apply: If you are interested in this volunteer opportunity, or have any questions, please contact Shakira, Executive Assistant, at shakira@cecilcentre.ca.

The post Cecil Community Centre appeared first on Capacity Canada.

Does the lying ever stop? Are politicians so short sighted and so stupid that they think that everybody forgets their lies? One possible reason for the Township's decades old coverup of the seriousness of the methane gas is the fear of lowering property values in nearby homes on High St., George St. and others. I guess the Township feel that lying to everybody is better than having to buy homes nearest the landfill due to the Township's culpability in siting the Landfill next to this subdivision. 

I've recently noticed another issue regarding the Bolender Landfill As the trees have been thinned out one can more readily see the earthen berm along the back end (east side) of the former scrapyard. In the past I've seen the flooding Canagagigue Creek go over its' banks and totally submerge Bolender Park. Due to the berm behind the scrapyard I suspect that the flooding included significant parts of the landfill itself. If so this would explain the repeated failures of the methane gas monitoring and venting systems over the decades. When the tubes are filled with water the methane can not vent to the atmosphere. Even a high water table can cause this but when combined with surface water it's even more egregious. 

I thought that real estate agents were legally bound to disclose nearby hazards and issues to prospective buyers of homes. Apparently not as the realtor for 10-A  High St. has not been doing so. He claims that he has no knowledge of the nearby former landfill. Wow! This is Woolwich Township folks. "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".   

In a world where there is so much negative news, our next generation needs our help towards strong futures more than ever. That is what makes us so pleased about successfully running our 17th Annual Youth Symposium, after being forced to cancel since 2019.

In the media! Check out the coverage provided by Cambridge Today and Guelph Today.

The 2024 edition of this exciting and unique program was run over three days – from Tuesday, April 16 to Thursday, April 18. A cumulative total of over 3,000 grade 8 students and teachers from almost 50 schools in the area attended at Galaxy Cineplex Cinemas in Guelph (day one) and Waterloo (days two and three).

Students and teachers heard from some of the best speakers in the country for youth audiences. This amazing line-up delivered powerful messages on a variety of important life topics, all in the spirit of spurring these youth onto great success in high school and beyond!

Presentation themes included dreaming big, goal setting, anti-bullying, healthy dating, abstaining from drugs, resiliency, inclusion, accountability, and more. There was a significant focus on the physical, emotional, and mental health of students, as they prepare to begin high school. Students also learned how Child Witness Centre can support them through the criminal justice system if they are ever a victim or witness of abuse or crime.

The difference that Youth Symposium can make in the lives of young people is priceless – and will surely have a long-term ripple effect in our community. A lot of glowing feedback we've received from students and teachers speaks to how they’ve been equipped with confidence, inspiration, and empowerment to thrive – both now and well into the future.

One student shared what they learned is, “Don't let failures stop you from trying new things. Don't base your decisions on others' opinions. Do what you want even if it might not be cool.” Another student stated a few takeaways for them were, “Be careful online, believe in yourself, and stay positive about life.”

A teacher let us know, “This is so valuable for students – someone other than their parents or teachers, reaching them at their level, and inspiring them to think and/or act differently (and for the better)!” Another teacher said, “These presentations fuel and inspire kids to look beyond their phone or bedroom walls, get involved, and be an active member of your community!”

For our team at Child Witness Centre, it is very rewarding to know Youth Symposium also helps with the prevention of abuse and crime. Last year alone, we supported over 1,000 child and youth victims in Waterloo Region, Guelph, and Wellington County – and that number doesn’t include those added to our waitlist. Anything that can be done to avoid harmful incidents from happening in the first place holds tremendous value.

Our entire team would like to thank everyone who was part of making the 2024 Youth Symposium a major success! While many of our staff were heavily involved in making the program happen, we couldn’t do it alone – the help of our large crew of volunteers and partners was critical. This incredible three-day event is also made possible by the support of our generous event sponsors found below. Thank you!

We are already looking forward to the 2025 Youth Symposium!

The post 2024 Youth Symposium Impacts over 3,000 Local Grade 8 Students first appeared on Child Witness Centre.

In a world where there is so much negative news, our next generation needs our help towards strong futures more than ever. That is what makes Child Witness Centre (CWC) so pleased about successfully running its 17th Annual Youth Symposium, after being forced to cancel since 2019.

The 2024 edition of this exciting and unique program was run over three days – from Tuesday, April 16 to Thursday, April 18. A cumulative total of over 3,000 grade 8 students and teachers from almost 50 schools in the area attended at Galaxy Cineplex Cinemas in Guelph (day one) and Waterloo (days two and three).

Students and teachers heard from some of the best speakers in the country for youth audiences. This amazing line-up delivered powerful messages on a variety of important life topics, all in the spirit of spurring these youth onto great success in high school and beyond!

Presentation themes included dreaming big, goal setting, anti-bullying, healthy dating, abstaining from drugs, resiliency, inclusion, accountability, and more. There was a significant focus on the physical, emotional, and mental health of students, as they prepare to begin high school. Students also learned how CWC can support them through the criminal justice system if they are ever a victim or witness of abuse or crime.

The difference that Youth Symposium can make in the lives of young people is priceless – and will surely have a long-term ripple effect in our community. A lot of glowing feedback received from students and teachers speaks to how they’ve been equipped with confidence, inspiration, and empowerment to thrive – both now and well into the future.

One student shared what they learned is, “Don't let failures stop you from trying new things. Don't base your decisions on others' opinions. Do what you want even if it might not be cool.” Another student stated a few takeaways for them were, “Be careful online, believe in yourself, and stay positive about life.”

A teacher let CWC know, “This is so valuable for students – someone other than their parents or teachers, reaching them at their level, and inspiring them to think and/or act differently (and for the better)!” Another teacher said, “These presentations fuel and inspire kids to look beyond their phone or bedroom walls, get involved, and be an active member of your community!”

For CWC, it is very rewarding to know Youth Symposium also helps with the prevention of abuse and crime. Last year alone, this organization supported over 1,000 child and youth victims in Waterloo Region, Guelph, and Wellington County – and that number doesn’t include those added to their waitlist. Anything that can be done to avoid harmful incidents from taking place in the first place, and thereby the need for CWC’s services, holds tremendous value.

CWC would like to thank everyone who was part of making the 2024 Youth Symposium a major success! While many of their staff were key to making the program happen, they know they couldn’t do it alone – the help of a large crew of volunteers and partners was critical. This incredible three-day event is also made possible by the support of several generous event sponsors.

CWC is already looking forward to their 2025 Youth Symposium!

The team of professionals at Child Witness Centre walks closely with local young survivors of abuse and crime, and their families, from the time of investigation through to a court resolution. As a result, their clients’ trauma is reduced, and futures become brighter. In facing stretched resources to meet the demand for their services, CWC recently began a “Child Victims Can’t Wait” large fundraising campaign to overcome their first ever waitlist in over 40 years of service. Visit their website to learn more about their impact and how you can help: childwitness.com/

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